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We were the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA); and were dedicated to ending sexual violence in Jewish communities globally. We did our best to operate as the make a wish foundation for Jewish survivors of sex crimes. In the past we offered a clearinghouse of information, resources, support and advocacy.

Wednesday, January 02, 2002

A Mother Experiences the KLC (The Kabbalah Learning Centre)

This article is to encourage people to speak out about their
experiences "Rav" Berg's Kabbalah Learning Center (KLC) Berg's given
name is Feivel Gruberger, an experienced insurance salesman.

It is essential to keep in mind that the actions of the KLC have little in
common with traditional or even responsible Jewish renewal Kabbalah teachers.

When I first realized how self-destructively deep my child was involved in
this group, I was paralyzed with horror. This gave way to fury, anger, frustration
and pain beyond words. It made my blood freeze to realize how subtle and efficient
this organization works.

A Mother experiences the KLC

I went to the center because I wanted to improve my life. To improve how
I felt about myself, my marriage, my career. There was plenty of room for
improvement.

"Kabbalah has the answer for it all", I was assured by the "rabbi"
who was in charge of the center.

That felt great. Finally someone who spoke straight out, full of confidence.
He gave me the impression that now, having come to them, everything would
easily fall into place.

I had to tell what was bothering me, of course. My marital problems were
solved within less than three minutes. "No use fighting for this relationship.
We will find you someone better." When I answered that this was not exactly
what I had in mind and that there also were some business links that concerned
our marriage, the solution was as simple: I just had to stay on until the
business matters were sorted out and then make up my mind. Maybe I could even
bring my spouse along. "Kabbalah" would bring light into everyone's
world and there might be hope. Could we afford classes for both of us?

I signed up and attended the Introduction Class.

We were told to write down what exactly we would like to improve during these
weeks and were promised that we would experience a miraculous change upon
completion of the course.

I learned that "restriction was necessary to produce light", that
to "control yourself" was a very important key to improve your life
and that "you have to inject consciousness" into every single action
of your daily life, because we had to understand that spontaneity was not
a good thing, like some psychologists taught. Everyone had found out, our
teacher told us, that psychology and religion have not helped anyone so far,
quite the contrary.

We learned "don't trust your five senses", that the world as we
used to perceive it is nothing but an illusion. The "material world"
is only 1%. The "Real world", however, is invisible but consists
of the 99% that is mathematically left over in this equation. This is the
realm that counts where the work has to be done.

In due course of the class we were introduced to the "principles of
reincarnation" and "Satan" and learned why the time to improve
ourselves was running out. We did not have many reincarnations left, if we
wanted to be among those who were to be saved in 240 years, which is Judgement
Day.

Gradually we were introduced to the tools that would ensure our personal
improvement - "reconstructing our nature" the goal of which is "to
become godlike" - and that of our lives: different kinds of meditation,
volunteering at the center, and tithing.

Questions were encouraged, as long as they did not directly concern the teachings.
For example you could ask HOW to do your meditations. When I asked, "WHY
I should accept certain teachings in the first place?" I was told that
"it will all become clear to you later on". After all, Kabbalah
had been a secret science for centuries and could only revealed to you in
little bits and "whenever you are ready". When I wanted to know
why Kabbalah had not been introduced to the world before, if it abolished
any kind of pain and even would stop wars, the answer was simple. "The
time is right now."

Patience and obedience to the rules were important, if you wanted results.
Questions about the content of the teachings were ignored or - at best - ridiculed.
Were not our lives the ones who needed improvement? Were not the people at
the center happy? They were the ones that experienced miracles in their lives
all the time. Could we say the same about our lives? If we had indeed experienced
similar "miracles," these were just coincidences, whereas when you
did Kabbalah, the results were "proactively" produced and were not
just arbitrary. There were men and women who testified how wonderful their
lives had become. They spoke convincingly about how they led better marriages,
how their businesses has prospered, how they had won the battle over cancer
and illnesses.

We were invited to Sabbath meetings and dinners. They were lovely. Everyone
was so nice and friendly. We were introduced to certain rituals; all questions
about the "why?" were answered with "energy". The KLC
teachers "know" about any energy that is out there and to use it
for improvement. And all of them are still learning from "Rabbi Berg"
who knows all the secrets, I was told.

If you want to know why it takes so long to improve the world with this perfect
knowledge at hand, can't you imagine the answer your "teacher" will
give you? The KLC is very liberal, everyone has the right to chose for themselves,
no one is forced to become a member… Unfortunately as long as the rest
of the world does not "chose" to participate and is too blind to
see the truth, the task for the members is harder and chaos and Satan will
continue to create evil …

At the end of the class, many of us did not experience the promised miracle.
We were told that this was our fault, because we really didn't try hard enough.
Had we done our exercises diligently? Had we volunteered enough? Was there
not a little more that we could do to contribute to the center? Also, it must
not be forgotten that there was so much more to learn. There were so many
more classes to take. Patience.

I did not have this patience and also did not want to come to the Sabbath
meetings anymore.

"No problem, this was fine," I was told. "Everyone has his/her
own way to follow, but something terrible would happen to one of my family
members and then we would be there for us, because we are forgiving."

Even though I did not believe their teachings this prophecy about disaster
happening to a person I love terrified me for a long time - until I learned
about "phobia indoctrination" when I read Steve Hassan's book. The
book opened my eyes to the whole issue of mind control and cults. In the last
months I talked to many people who had once been connected with the KLC and
there are many people who are still afraid. I mused about how psychology does
work after all…

Intellectually, I thought the rhetoric was quite obvious. However, my brilliant,
but naïve child didn't see it as I did. She attended more classes, one-to-one-consultations,
even long weekends. There was an enormous personality change.

My child now claims she is free of any worldly desires, except that there
always has to be enough money to pay for classes and activities that concern
the center. College is not important anymore; all spare time is consumed by
working ("volunteering") at the center and to earn money, so that
tithing can be done. Contact to parents and siblings is below minimum level.
Conversations are a distant memory from the past. Discussions are not even
remotely possible. Criticism of the KLC was met with different levels of arrogance,
aggressiveness or flight. In the end our child avoided us altogether.
We have watched the physical deterioration, the loss of his longtime friends,
the destruction of a promising career. She cannot communicate normally-everything
is in KLC jargon. When she has come home to visit from a weekend or a seminar,
my husband and I feel like we are watching someone walking on air, utterly
euphoric. What little time that she still spends with the family she is in
a moody, uncommunicative and remote, eyes glazed over. It is a terrifying
experience. Having worked with problem kids, I can compare this kind of behavior
pattern only to drug addicts.

Why did she change like this? How can something like this happen to a gifted
child? Why is it so difficult to penetrate this strange behavior?

Recruiting and controlling Strategies
(Please, I hope others will also contribute what information they know that
might be useful for others).

When my despair abated I started to educate myself, I read everything I could
find about mind control, meditation, trances - and secret notes taken from
members at classes. I learned it was mind control indoctrination.

In each class, especially "Personal Growth Workshops", questionnaires
are to be filled out. It is imperative that you "open up". Also
you will soon have "friends" in who you are encouraged to confide
in, who are supposed "to help you" - especially to "overcome
doubts, as doubts are from Satan".

Some meditations transfer the trusting member to "the ancient temple
in Jerusalem"; in the course of some of these meditations positive images
from your life are substituted with KLC images.

Other meditations are about "The Rav", his greatness etc.

It is indicated that you are really safe only while at a center or in its
close vicinity. If you travel to somewhere in the world that has not yet a
center it is your "free choice" to expose yourself to such dangers…

Members are trained in blocking out any attempts of criticism of the KLC.
I am prepared to take a guess that everyone who has a family member or friend
deeply involved in the KLC has experienced the glazing over of the member's
eyes, the rocking forward and backward, the silent reciting of KLC terminology
when confronted with unpleasant discoveries about the group.

"The Rav" claims to have the power to change the chemical structure
of water and thereby improve its quality to such an extent that its benefits
for the one who drinks it are worth the price you have to pay for it. (It
is sold at every center. Water provided for meals on weekends is ordinary
water). Berg can supposedly do miracles, has knowledge of teleportation. Again,
these techniques are sold to interested members, regardless of the potential
harm these practices might do to the unsuspecting follower.

"Services" include vehement shaking of fists (induces hyperventilation,
which can make your subconscious more susceptible).

"Alcohol carries light", therefore -especially in the retreats in
LA - consumption of alcohol is encouraged to "get close to the light"
as part of rituals, also to minors.

Members are videotaped.

Members are encouraged to change their first names according to suggestions
of their teacher, because each name "carries energy" and, of course,
your teacher knows best what is best for you.

You are encouraged "to let go of your family"- unless you can recruit
them, of course.

You are kept busy; there is always something to do. It will never have an
effect "on your tikkun" if you help anyone outside the center, because
"the center is a holy place", chosen by superior knowledge. (Which
is true, because most locations are where the money is. For example, there
is no KLC in Central Africa, Bosnia or India or even in Central Kentucky…)
This is why you are encouraged to do well financially, because then "you
are able to help the cause better".

If you are a failure in the material world, though, you don't have much choice
but to become a "chevre". You work at the center fulltime, for a
mattress and enough food to keep you going and thus "bring light to the
world" too.

The KLC states that it is "not a religion", but files taxes as
a religion. Members seem to be thrilled that can fool the IRS, since the organization
is "above the 1% world".

In the introduction class you are tempted jokingly, "Isn't it better
to be rich and healthy that to be poor and sick?" If you don't get these
results, it is your fault, but most long term members have forgotten this
alluring recruitment promise.
In spite of long hours of work, often experiencing the same if not more obstacles
than before in their lives they still claim "It works!"
Why? In the Introduction Course you are taught already that "the more
restriction, the more light", explained by the lightbulb principle. This
translates to "the more pain the more gain". Doubts about this "are
from Satan" - we heard this before… - and so the circle closes.

Why should we be concerned if our loved ones claim to be happy?

You need not be concerned if you are sure that the member's decision was
made fully informed about everything that entails being a member BEFORE
starting out.

You need not be concerned if the member has had a complete "time-out"
for several weeks /months to be able to inform her/himself thoroughly, discussed
the topic with her/his OWN words and had time to really think. This is common
practice when you decide to join a monastery the Catholic Church recommends
about one year to reflect upon your decision.

Members of this group, however, are told that, "this is the absolute
and only truth", refusing vehemently to listen or discuss the topic.
Should you be lucky enough to get them to talk, the best you can expect in
most cases is parroted phrases they learned at the classes and sessions. If
you are familiar with the teachings you will find that most answers you'll
get are literal quotations.

Members are kept by deception and - most appalling - by fear. I told about
the frightening prophecy that I was given. Everyone I have talked to had similar
experiences. Threats of accidents that you might encounter when you leave,
business and or financial losses (if you are rather materialistically inclined),
harm that might befall someone you love are common practice.

As the member is discouraged from checking out testimonies from others that
have left, these fears stay in place and not only keep the member in the group,
but come in also quite useful to exert further pressure.

This does not ensure a free choice.

Why should we tell our story?

Every one of us who has been through this experience knows the changes that
occur in our loved one's personality. Caught in the trap of so-called "self-improvement"
lectures, vulnerable, gentle-minded and idealistically inclined students are
gradually, but ruthlessly, inevitably, submitted to mind control strategies
that are so subtle and efficient that in the end the person exposed to them
is alienated from everyone who really cares about them, from career goals,
things they liked to enjoy, from every human life experience itself. They
are told the goal is "to become Godlike", to "restructure your
psychological DNA" and although the members are far from the former -
and have to be forever striving that they can be exploited further, the latter
often becomes a horrific reality. In the last few months I have spoken with
many distressed families as well as former members, and they have all confirmed
my own experience: Your son/daughter, spouse, mother/father, friend changes
from a loving caring family member into a cold, emotionless, detached, arrogant
and sometimes even violent stranger.

I have to point out, though, that recently (2001) - because of a lot of negative
press - communication with family is more encouraged, and living conditions
at the centers have somewhat improved. After all, just have one more volunteer
work in the kitchen and prepare at least decent food for the hevres is not
such a considerable financial loss. Still, the core problem remains. The mind
control system still is working. It takes some time of subtle but relentless
manipulation to get a new recruit to the point where occasional little "rewards"
like playing ball or going for a swim support the reward/ punishment system
that keep members at bay. In the end, only one hour of this kind of leisure
per week is sufficient to enforce the conviction of a trained, devoted member
that the KLC is kind and caring.

Enough.

This site is for us to speak out.

Each of us needs all the support we can get. Sharing experiences is one step.
It will show us that we are not alone, that our loved one is not a silly psycho;
it will help us to maintain the love, the strength and the faith we all need
until our loved one is finally free to choose again.

Each of us alone might never have the clout, legally, financially or politically
to have this group investigated. Together we will. Pooling information, even
though it is done anonymously if you wish (through Steve Hassan), is the first
step to fight for the freedom of mind and for our families. Media, politicians
and law enforcement cannot in the long run ignore groups that undermine the
very foundations of our society: Family values, freedom and integrity.

Each of us probably tortures himself/ herself of having failed our loved
one at times. We might have. So what?! If we did, we still the right to change
and work at what we did wrong, and even if our loved ones do not come back
home to us they deserve the right to come back to themselves. They deserve
the right to choose. The more stories you will hear the more it becomes obvious
that this right does not exist, no matter what you hear. In notes taken at
"advanced" classes I found the imperative that "all doubts
(concerning the KLC's teachings) are from Satan" and must be fought accordingly.

In the meantime do educate yourself. At the end of the page there are links
to organizations and specialists who have a long and extensive experience
with the situation we are in. The more you know, the better you can handle
the situation- maybe even find ways to encourage them to think for themselves
again, and you can understand the enormous pain every member goes through.
Hopefully it will also arouse your moral courage not to let an organization
showing unscrupulous greed get away with wringing every possible cent out
of its members with no apparent regard for humanity.

Safety

Most of all: Don't be afraid. If you are an ex-member read up on the subject
of "phobia indoctrination". This is a very efficient means to keep
members staying in the group and even terrify people enough to keep silent
after they left. In my own story, I gave you an example of how they worked
it on me, and I am ashamed to admit that it worked to a certain extent. After
all, we all are vulnerable somewhere. Joining a group like the KLC means that
these vulnerable spots will be the first ones that you will be asked to expose
"for your own spiritual growth". This shows exactly the Achilles'
heel where they will hit you. It is a very effective tool, but keep in mind
that it has nothing to do with supernatural powers, just plain psychology.

If you decide to publish your story, but fear that this might cause retaliation
from the group or estrange your loved one even further, this is what we recommend
and intend:

- Don't mention name, age or location (it does not matter whether you live
in NYC, California or South America),

- You may submit your story, but will not be able to contact each other, except
you want to be contacted. Anonymity and privacy will be guaranteed. This is
why you need not fill any of the fields when submitting your story/ information
except the text part.

- If you feel or as a matter of fact are threatened in any way as a result
of telling your story, file a report at your local police station immediately.
As with everything else, the more people report legal transgressions the easier
it is to put an end to them.

If possible, please fill out a submit group information form or a testimonial
and indicate if you are willing to use your real name or a pseudonym. Also,
it would be helpful for you to add an email address that will enable people
to contact you- if you would like this. Also, let us know if you are willing
to be interviewed by the media or are willing to help others.

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Survivors ARE Heroes!

The Awareness Center believes ALL survivors of sex crimes should be given yellow ribbons to wear proudly.

Survivors of sexual violence (as adults and/or as a child) are just as deserving of a yellow ribbon as the men and women of our armed forces, who have been held captive as hostages or prisoners of war.

Survivors of sexual violence have been forced to learn how to survive, being held captive not by foreigners, but mostly by their own family members, teachers, camp counselors, coaches babysitters, rabbis, cantors or other trusted authority figures.

For these reasons ALL survivors of sexual violence should be seen as heroes!